Hushed
by xDracotheDeathEaterx
Summary: Elsa isn't ready to trust anyone, much less a grimn young soldier by the name of Lieutenant Kotler. But when the two begin to play a dangerous game, it's only a matter of time before one of them is caught...And there will be consequences. R and R!
1. So Much Has Changed

Elsa had barely entered the kitchen, and already Bruno was tugging at the hem of her dress. Her son looked up with lamp-like eyes. "What is it, Precious?" she asked, using the special pet name she reserved only for Bruno. "I thought you were going to play outside? It's such a lovely day."

Elsa glanced out the window, at the cheerful sunlight streaming down onto the courtyard. She almost smiled. It was a rarity these days, ever since the move. But then she saw the soldiers patrolling their yard, and her mouth tightened. They simply couldn't be avoided.

It seemed like her thoughts had been heard. Just then, a young soldier walked through the kitchen, glanced backward at them, then exited. Elsa frowned darkly. "I keep telling them to use the back door!" she muttered, turning away. When she noticed Bruno still standing there, she took his face in her hands.

"I'm so sorry, Bruno. Mummy's so absent-minded these days. What were you saying?" But her son only shook his head and darted away. She could hear him pounding up the stairs to his room. Elsa sighed loudly and shook her head, alone in the cavernous kitchen. "Everything's different," she said quietly. ''Everything's different, and nothing's the same."


	2. Look Who's Here

Elsa didn't know for how long she sat there, staring at the wall. But when she looked out the window, the sun was already receeding into the hills. The once beautiful day had turned nasty. Rain lashed the ancient windows, and she feared the glass would shatter inward and harm her.

Elsa rose from the chair, feeling useless. She could have been doing something; she still had many important things that she hadn't unpacked. She blocked the thought from her mind, the thought that had been nagging at her since they had moved to Auschwitz: that this was a barmy idea, and that they should all go home. Bruno had it right. He always did. It's the children that notice these things, Elsa concluded, as she took a last sweeping glance around the room. She should listen to them more often. But then the door flew open with a clanging sound.

Her hand flew to her mouth. And who else would be there? It was the young soldier from hours before, the one who had walked so rudely through the room like he owned it. She assesed him quickly, heart still fluttering. He stood awkwardly in the doorframe, his head almost grazing the top. His unnaturally blonde hair poked out from underneath his crooked cap, shining though there was almost no light. His uniform was dirty and wrinkled, and the unmistable smell of beer made her eyes water. His eyes, an odd shade of deep blue, made Elsa think of trips to the ocean with her parents when she was but a girl. He had to be only a teenager. So how did he get into the Army?

They frowned at each other for a few moments, the steady downpour the only sound to break the silence. Elsa could see that he was shivering, though he tried to play it off like he was wiping the rain from his sleeve. A stream of water cascaded down his forehead, and he blinked it away. Add his bloodshot eyes, and the young soldier looked as if he had been crying for some time. Maybe he had been. How would she know?

Finally, the boy cleared his throat. "I'm here to see, er, Herr Commandant?" He said it cautiously, like someone asking the cat, "Well, what did you do with my mouse?" Elsa could see his eyes boring into her, and it made her uncomfortable. "Well, don't just stand there freezing then," she snapped, suprised at how harsh her voice sounded. "You didn't seem to mind it when you waltzed right through earlier!"


	3. Standing Up

The boy gave her a startled glance and stepped into the kitchen. Perhaps he hadn't suspected a response like that from a woman who looked so quiet and small. Or perhaps it was because she was a Nazi's wife. Elsa folded her arms and stared straight back at him. She would show him that she wasn't going to put up with any nonsense. She had braced herself, from the moment she had left Berlin, that the move was going to change her. Made her stronger, less likely to lay down and let everyone walk all over her. And she wasn't ready to give up yet. Although they had only been here for three weeks, it seemed like a decade. All the more reason to try to become a better person.

Elsa knew that the soldier was resisting the urge to shake the water off himself like a dog. Her eyes went to the steadily growing puddle of water under his boots. She pursed her lips and said nothing. Cleanliness was one of Elsa's favorite ideals. But not today. He made a strange face at her, as if he had expected her to offer him something by now. Else shook her head the tiniest bit, something like butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She never, ever denied _anyone._ What a strange feeling!

He took off his cap and turned it over. Rainwater streamed out and splashed on the floor. He grimaced, not at the state of Elsa's kitchen, but at the state of his uniform. Securing it back on his head, he began openly watching her again. She felt a dull flush bloom over her face. She couldn't stand it anymore. "_Wait here,"_ she hissed from the corner of her mouth. Elsa turned her back to him and walked with measured steps to the stairs, careful to keep her head held high. That soldier. He made her feel so...unnerved. Like he knew everything about her, but didn't want to offend her by saying it. And he hadn't even spoken a word to her.


	4. A Revelation

Elsa knew that Ralf was probably in his study, where he spent most of the day. She wrinkled her nose as she made her way up the stairs, shoes clicking loudly on the old wood. Soldier business was something she certainly didn't approve of, especially when the conversation turned to vulgarities such as Auschwitz. Elsa knew what went on there, what went on not a mile away from their new home. But she wasn't ready to consider that yet. She had it hidden in the back of her mind, stored for one of those days where you had absolutely nothing else to think about. War was war. But this, no. It wasn't war. It was pure hatred. Sometimes, you have to seperate yourself from those things. Before your life crashes down around you.

Elsa reached her husband's office. She could hear booming voices on the other side of the door, the voice that belonged to Ralf speaking the loudest. He always commanded their attention, the other soldiers. He could make them listen, make them laugh or cry. He could make them do whatever he wanted. He just had that _way,_ Elsa thought. That _power._ She supposed, with a sinking feeling, that it was one of the reasons she had married him twelve years ago.

But now, as she stood in that lonely hallway, with nothing but a wall and a piece of wood seperating her and her husband, hearing him speak more intimately to his soldiers than he ever did to her, Elsa felt as if someone had closed icy fingers around her throat. No, she couldn't be. Was she...was she really questioning her marriage? She and Ralf had been together for so long. Yet, it seemed as if the romance in their relationship had, well, _fizzled_ lately. There didn't seem to be much of anything there anymore. Elsa and her husband lived two seperate lives, going about their ways happily enough. But sometimes, Elsa found herself craving something else. Something _bold._ Something that Ralf couldn't give her.


End file.
